The present invention relates generally to the field of combustion and flue gas cleanup methods and apparatus and, in particular, to a new and useful method and apparatus for removing mercury from the flue gases generated during the combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, or solid wastes, through the use of hydrogen sulfide.
In recent years, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have supported research to measure and control the emissions of Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) from coal-fired utility boilers and waste to energy plants. The initial results of several research projects showed that the emissions of heavy metals and volatile organic carbons (VOCs) are very low, except for mercury (Hg). Unlike most of the other metals, most of the mercury remains in the vapor phase and does not condense onto fly ash particles at temperatures typically used in electrostatic precipitators and fabric filters. Therefore, it cannot be collected and disposed of along with fly ash like the other metals. To complicate matters, mercury can exist in its oxidized (Hg.sup.+2) form, principally as mercuric chloride, (HgCl.sub.2), or in its elemental (Hg.sup.0) form as vaporous metallic mercury. The relative amount of each species appears to depend on several factors such as fuel type, boiler combustion efficiency, the type of particulate collector installed, and various other factors.
The search for industrially acceptable methods for the capture of mercury from industrial flue gases has included a significant effort to determine how much mercury can be removed by existing, conventional air pollution control equipment. One device used in air pollution control is the wet scrubber, which is designed for the capture of sulfur oxides and other acid gases. Tests have been performed on several commercial scale and pilot scale wet scrubbers. These tests have produced some expected and some surprising results. It was generally expected that the oxidized mercury would be easily captured and the elemental mercury would be difficult to capture. These expectations were based on the high solubility of mercuric chloride in water and the very low solubility of elemental mercury in water. This expectation was generally fulfilled.
The surprising result concerned elemental mercury. Repeated tests during which the concentration of elemental mercury in the flue gas was measured revealed that more elemental mercury was leaving the wet scrubber than was entering.
One postulate proposed to explain the cause of the elemental mercury generation in the wet scrubber is described for example, by the following general reactions: EQU M.sub.e.sup.0 +Hg.sup.+2.fwdarw.M.sub.e.sup.+2 +Hg.sup.0 EQU 2M.sub.e.sup.+ Hg.sup.+2 2M.sub.e.sup.+2 +Hg.sup.0
M.sub.e is any number of transition metals such as Fe, Mn, Co, Sn, . . .
Transition metal ions are generally present in wet scrubber slurries as impurities in the industrial applications of concern. Thus, as the mercuric chloride is absorbed, a portion reacts with and becomes reduced by trace levels of transition metals and metal ions and because of its low solubility the elemental mercury is stripped from the liquid and returned to the flue gas.
Most of the recent efforts to capture and remove mercury from the flue gas produced by coal-fired units have concentrated on gas-phase reactions with introduced reagents such as activated carbon.
The subject of mercury emissions by the utility and waste to energy industries is a new area being investigated by both the DOE and EPA.